Base-ball mitt or glove.



B. T. ROGERS. BASE BALL MITT OR-GLO VE. APPLICATION FILED 00T.29, 1908.

1,018,271. Patented Feb. 20, 1912.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR,

. Eariffgyag I V B) 1 ATTORNEY.

B. T. ROGERS BASE BALL MITT 0B. GLOVE.

APPLICATION FILED 00129, 1908.

1,018,271. Patented Feb. 20, 1912."

2 SHEETS-SHEBT 2.

A TTORN K BURT '1. ROGERS, OF'SPR-INGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIG-NOR TOVICTOR SPORTING GOODS COMPANY, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ACORPORATION.

BASE-BALL MITT OR- GLOVE.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, BURT T. ROGERS, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, re.- siding at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and Stateof Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Base-BallMitts or Gloves, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the construction of a combined glove and mittsuch as is used by players of the game of base-ball.

Heretofore it has been customary to manufacture a mitt, so called, whichis used especially by a player occupying certain positions in the gameand a glove which is used by players occupying certain other positions.

There are many reasons why it is desirable to use a protective coveringfor the hand of the player which will possess the qualities of both ofthese devices. When a glove is used, a ball striking it can be much morefirmly and surely held than would be possible if the player wore a mitt;and on the other hand, the fingers of the glove being separated theleather is very frequently split where the fingers join the palm owingto the hard impact of the ball thereagainst. Furthermore, with a handcovering in the form of a mitt possessing the requisite flexibility inthe finger portion, a player is less likely to fail of catching a ballthan where a glove construct-ion is used, owing to the fact that a ballis more completely pocketed in a mitt than in a glove, but a mitt, as atpresent generally constructed, is not flexible enough to permit thefingers to freely close over a ball, the finger portions of a mitt beingsewed along their edges to the back of the mitt to provide separate butnot I separated or separable finger portions.

The object of the present invention is to provide a hand covering havingall of the characteristics of flexibility found in a glove, togetherwith the command of the finger portion thereof, and at the same timeembodying the more desirable characteristics of a mitt.

The structure hereinafter described embodying practically a glovestructure incased in a mitt-covering, permits the use of a gloveconstruction which is much cheaper to make than an ordinary fieldersglove inasmuch as the glove proper consisting of the fingers and thepalm portion need not be of as high a grade of leather as in a gloveSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 29, 1808.

Patented Feb. 29, 1912.

Serial No. 460,054.

which is to receive the direct impact of the ball, and all of thepadding is secured to the outside of the glove structure instead ofinside, as in fielders gloves, the incasing of this glove structurewithin a mitt covering serving to protect all of the glove construction.If this were not so and any part of the glove construction were visibleit would be necessary to provide as good an exterior appearance to theglove structure as though it were to be used as an ordinary fieldersglove, which would entail an additional expense.

The invent-ion is fully set forth in the following specification andillustrated in the drawings accompanying the same, in which,

Figure 1 is a rear elevation of the leather covering for a mitt asusually constructed. Fig. 2 is a like view of a glove inserted withinthis mitt covering'shown in Fig. 1, a part of the latter being brokenaway to show the location of the glove fingers, the exposed portion ofthe latter being in section. Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken online 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view on line l4 of Fig 2.Fig. 5 is a front elevation of a glove showing the padding stitched tothe fingers and the palm thereof, auxiliary padding being shown appliedthereto at the base of the palm. Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 6-6,Fig. 5, showing the padding secured to one of the fingers of the glove.Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line 77, Fig. 8, showing auxiliary paddingfor the finger portion of the glove. Fig. 8 is a front elevation of aglove having the usual surface padding and auxiliary padding extendingacross the base of the palm, as in Fig. 5, and continued up one side andacross the finger tips.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows the bag-like covering ordinarilyused in the manufacture of a mitt, this being indicated as a Whole by ain the various figures of the drawing.

Fig. 5 shows a glove structure in front elevation which is inserted inthe mitt covering shown in Fig. 1. The glove structure is inserted inthe mitt covering and stitched thereto as follows: First, the tips ofthe fingers b of the glove are spread apart, the width of the mittcovering permitting this, these tips being stitched to the edge of themitt, as at c Fig. 2. The glove and mitt are then stitched togetheraround the wrist, as at (Z, and around the border 9 of the opening it inthe back of the mitt when the glove is finished. By stitching the glovefingers at the tips thereof to the inner edge of the mitt covering withthe fingers spread apart, it permits lateral movement of all of thefingers within the limits of the mitt, practically the same as thoughthe fingers were not stitched to the mitt at all, it being of courseunderstood that the material of which the mitt covering is made isflexible enough to permit this lateral movement of the fingers. In otherwords, by thus securing the glove in the mitt member, the fingers of theglove may be readily closed over a ball or moved laterally, that is,spread apart to provide for an eflicient grasping or holding of theball, the edge of the mitt being flexible and permitting these differentmovements of the fingers of the glove member.

Referring to Fig. 5 again, the dotted line 6 indicates the outline ofthe leather glove which is made in the usual manner, the padding f forthe finger portions and palm thereof being stitched to the edges of theglove and fingers. The outline of this padding is shown in full linesand in section in Figs. 4, 6, and 7. hen the glove construction shown inFig. 5 is inserted within the mitt covering shown in Fig. 1 and securedthereto in the manner described. the article has substantially all ofthe flexibility of the glove, and the leather covering of the mitt andthe padding f protects the glove against ripping or splitting in thepalm; this flexibility of this structure is due to the fact that thefingers and thumb of the glove are not restricted in their movementlaterally owing to the flexible nature of the mitt covering a withinwhich the glove structure is inclosed, and because the fingertips areseparated before being secured to the covering, they are free to movelaterally and are not drawn down into the covering when the fingers areclosed over the ball. A closer approximation to the mitt may be attainedby applying to the base of the palm, as shown in Fig. 5, an auxiliarypadding 7a which is stitched to the glove padding f before the glove isinserted within the mitt covering. If it is desired to provide astructure which shall have all of the characteristics of the mitt,together with much greater flexibility than is possible with mitts asgenerally constructed at present, this auxiliary padding 7v may beextended up the outer edge of the glove along the little finger and thenacross the finger-tips, as shown in Fig. 8, thereby producing a deeperpocket in the palm, but without interfering with the free movement ofthe fingers to an appreciable degree. The great flexibility of thestructure herein described provides a hand covering which may be used bya fielder and which has all of the desirable characteristics of the mittas at present constructed and which will, at the same time, provide acatcher with a hand covering having all the desirable characteristics ofthe fielders glove. The thumb and the edge of the mitt-covering may beunited by the flexible web m, if desired, or any of the well knownequivalents of this web may be used.

lVhat I claim, is

1. A hand covering comprising a. fingered padded glove member and aninclosing casing therefor of flexible material, the fingers of the glovemember being secured to the easing only at the tips of the fingers withthe wrist port-ion of the gloved member secured to the wrist portion ofthe casing.

52. A hand-covering comprising a fingered glove member and an inclosingcasing therefor of flexible material, the glove member being secured atits extremities only to said casing.

BURT T. ROGERS.

Witnesses K. D. CLnMoNs, H. W. BOWEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

